Last week, the Patiot ran profiles on candidates running for Becker and Big Lake school boards. Staff was made aware of a few mistakes in our reporting, with corrections made below.

Due to a formatting error, Tony Scales and Amber Sixberry were mistakenly cropped from the article. Here are their profiles as they should have appeared in last week’s issue.

Tony Scales

Tony Scales has been married for 22 years and has two children attending Big Lake Schools. He is a director of engineering in the medical device industry. He has a BS in chemical engineering and chemistry from the University of Minnesota, and he has been a Big Lake School Board member for eight years.

Students: Scales wants to continue to identify new academic, athletic, and arts opportunities for students.

Communication: Scales vows to continue to support Big Lake’s excellent teachers.

COVID-19: With COVID-19, Scales wants to ensure Big Lake students, teachers, administration, and families are protected while providing excellence in education, both in health, and finance. Scales hopes to continue to plan, strategize, and develop a safe return to school at this time of critical importance.

Budgeting: He promises to continue to be a good steward of the taxpayers’ money, constantly looking for cost saving measures, and leveraging opportunities to lead to a robust financial position.

Amber Sixberry

Amber Sixberry and her husband, Danny, have raised four boys, all of which attended Big Lake Schools. She has worked as an assistant educator at the University of Minnesota Extension and as a realtor. She served for seven years on the Wright Tech School Board and has served eight years on the Big Lake School Board, including six years as a treasurer. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management.

Students: Sixberry says she will focus on students’ safety, which is always the highest priority of the school board.

Communication: She vows to incorporate community, staff, and administration to set a vision and goals for the school, and to hold the district accountable for meeting those goals. She wants to provide transparancy for the community and maintain a high level of communication between Big Lake residents and the Superintendant. She wishes to continue to have students’ voices involved in the board’s decision process.

COVID-19: With COVID-19, there are extra steps that need to be taken, and Sixberry wants to continue to work with administration to put policies in place to protect Big Lake Students.

Budgeting: Finally, Sixberry wishes to work closely with the director of business services to review the budget each month to try to keep the impact on taxpayers minimal.

Other Errors

Cindy Graham does not have any step-children, but has two children-in-law, and she has three grandchildren, not “many,” as stated. She also would like her voters to know she has an MBA in Education.

Connie Robinson’s husband is named Justin, not Jim.